The ultimate joy ride for luxury vehicle enthusiasts

The 2019 Aston Martin Vantage was unveiled just days ago, and its scheduled production for 2018 is almost entirely sold out already. In an interview with Bloomberg, Aston Martin CEO Andy Palmer accidently disclosed that the luxury car manufacturer shopped the Vantage to a series of private customers, and nearly 80 percent of them purchased the luxury sports car. Palmer also disclosed that customers will receive their cars early next year. The fact that the car is already nearly sold out is great news for Aston Martin, whose sales have risen 65 percent through 2017. Needless to say, the early success of the Vantage should ensure strong number in 2018 as well.

What’s All The Buzz About?

The 2019 Vantage is already selling off the shelf, but what is so special about it? Well for starters, it’s an Aston Martin. But if you’re not into name brand luxury, there is still plenty to love about this vehicle. First of all, it’s fast. Really fast.

The supercar claims to go from zero to 60 miles per hour in just 3.6 seconds. With a 4.0-liter V8 twin turbo engine pumping out 503 horsepower, there will be no argument about those claims here. Aston Martin replaced the old 4.7-liter naturally aspired motor with the Mercedes-AMG-sourced model to increase the car’s power without affecting its luxury performance.

In terms of appearance, the customer will have final say. Aston Martin has acknowledged that the 2019 Vantage trade some of the old car’s elegance for a Vulcan-inspired “predatory” look. Don’t expect to spend anything less than $150,000 on one of these bad boys.

Formula One Driver Daniel Ricciardo

Prior to the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Red Bull-sponsored Formula One driver Daniel Ricciardo had an opportunity to drive the new Aston Martin Vantage. As a part of a promotional video, Ricciardo was joined by former driver and current broadcaster Martin Brundle in a drive to the Yas Marina circuit. Lucky enough to one of the first people in the world to drive the new sports car, Ricciardo had nothing bad to say about it. He was impressed with the Vantage’s amazing sound.

The British luxury car company, Aston Martin, announced plans to design and sell a Tom Brady-inspired line of vehicles. Keeping with the theme of a legendary NFL QB, Martin will only sell twelve total cars in the line – the same number that Brady wears on gamedays with the New England Patriots.

Martin Partners With Brady

The car manufacturer and five-time Super Bowl winner are certainly not strangers to one another. Brady currently drives a 2017 Aston Martin DB11, making this partnership a natural fit for both sides. After spending a lot of time brainstorming concepts, both parties are happy with the final product. The sleek vehicles will be available with a price tag of $359,950 each.

The ode to the 40-year-old QB will be made obvious inside the vehicles. Brady’s signature logo of “TB12” will be featured throughout the interior. The logo appears on both the fender of the car as well as the headrests. The luxury maker said Brady’s drive to be the sport’s greatest player served as the inspiration behind the design. Aston Martin hopes to begin distributing the Brady cars at some point in 2018.

Other Brady Endorsements

While Brady has not been the NFL’s most marketable player throughout his career (thanks a lot, Peyton Manning), he has still inked several high-profile sponsorship deals. His pact with Uggs made him a punchline for many fans, but it also made him a lot of money. Brady’s deals with companies like Under Armour, Movado, and Glaceau Smartwater earned him a reported $7 million in 2014. His recent launching of a sports performance website and vegan diet will likely insure income following his NFL career. Brady's new book documenting his off-season training topped Amazon’s charts immediately following its release. In 2016, Brady was seen with a Donald Trump campaign hat in his locker. While initially supporting his friend Trump, Brady quickly backpedaled from making an official endorsement of the soon-to-be president.

A Ferrari was purchased for a hefty sum of money this past weekend, but it was not just any Ferrari. It was a Limited-Edition Ferrari LaFerrari Aperta. It was sold at an RM Sotheby’s auction that was held in Ferrari’s hometown of Maranello as part of the luxury automaker’s 70th anniversary. The car was originally priced at just over 1.8 million euros, or $2.2 million, but it was expected to sell for upwards of 4 million euros, or about $4.9 million. After 12 powerful bidders battled it out, the final sale closed at 8.3 million euros, or about $10 million, which makes it the most expensive new factory car ever purchased.

The automobile is referred to as a hypercar and can go from 0 to 124 mph in less than seven seconds. The open-top Aperta features a V12 engine twinned with an electric motor to give it an incredible 950 horsepower.

Limited Edition Custom Paint

A big reason that the LaFerrari Aperta skyrocketed to $10 million is the rarity of not just the vehicle itself but the custom paint job that cloaked the powerful machine. The deep red model that was purchased at auction was one of just 210 produced with a metallic Rosso Fuoco paint job, which means that it was finished with a special-order triple layer paint to give it a very definitive appearance. The paint job also included a double metallic Bianco Italia racing stripe on its hood and tail to add to the hypercar’s rarity.

Proceeds Donated To Charity

The best part about the historic auction was that all proceeds from this particular sale were donated to the Save the Children fund. Last year, a hardtop LaFerrari was sold for $7 million, and Ferrari donated the entire sum to the victims of the devastating Italian earthquakes. This year, they upped the anti by donating the entire $10 million to charity. The auction house even waived the fee on the sale; however, the winning bidder will have to pay tax on the purchase.

There are a lot of auto shows that take place on a yearly basis, but none of them are quite like the Tokyo Motor Show. With Japan being one of the most tech savvy countries in the world, there is no better place to host an innovative automotive event. Some of the best and brightest minds work tirelessly to conceptualize the next big thing in vehicular technology, and all of those ideas are brought to light at this event. From self-balancing motorcycles to fuel cell buses, here is a look at some of the most interesting concepts that were unveiled in Tokyo this week.

New Vehicle Designs

Among the weird and unusual vehicles is a fleet of modern automobiles that directly translate to the current transportation industry. International car-makers like Subaru, Suzuki, Honda, Mazda, and Toyota used this opportunity to unveil realistic models to the public. The Subaru Viziv Performance Concept is another addition to the company’s sporty line of performance vehicles. This time, the car combines its sleek look with Subaru’s Eyesight driver aid system to make for a safer experience for drivers. The Suzuki e-Survivor is an off-road SUV that combines four-wheel drive with an all-electric motor to allow jeep enthusiasts to romp efficiently. In my opinion, Mazda stole the show with their Vision Coupe and Kai concepts. It looks like they are trying to move into the luxury vehicle sector with these two beautiful designs. Toyota also unveiled a luxury model design called the Century that looks a lot like a Lincoln, but then the Japanese automaker unveiled a typical Toyota model called the Mirai that is going to be hydrogen-fueled.

Other Odd Concepts

On the flip side, the Tokyo Motor Show includes a handful of weird concepts that sometimes don’t quite make sense to the untrained eye. Honda unveiled their Dream Go Project that looks like a technologically advanced hot dog cart or lemonade stand. In fact, that is what it is supposed to be used for. Toyota unveiled their Concept i line that includes a futuristic four-seat vehicle, a joystick-controlled vehicle aimed for wheelchairs users, and an odd-looking tricycle that resembles a Segway. Toyota also released the design for their Fine Comfort Ride (FCR) concept, which is a van that includes four swivel seats inside and is designed for aerodynamics that becomes evident when you see the tilted look of the automobile. Regardless of whether these unique models stick, the Tokyo Motor Show remains one of the most fascinating events on the planet.

There has been a lot of speculation and hype surrounding the 67th Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, and for all intents and purposes, it did not disappoint. From Infiniti’s retro racecar to celebrity appearances from Jay Leno, Jerry Seinfeld, and more, the annual car show featured some of the most magnificent motor vehicles on Earth. There were classic models, as well as revolutionary designs. For the avid automotive fan, there was no better place to be than Pebble Beach. The exceptional car that was named Best of Show was a 1929 Mercedes-Benz S Barker Tourer, owned by Bruce McCaw.

Best of Show

Bruce McCaw, of Bellevue, Washington, was actually not sure about restoring his ’29 Benz until about a week prior to the show. He expressed his hatred for unnecessary restoration to classic vehicles but also mentioned that after retrieving enough pictures of the car’s original look, it was time to polish up the old roadster. All the restorations were made in just under a week’s time at Steve Babinsky’s shop in Lebanon, New Jersey. Babinsky finished just in time to ship the vehicle across the country to the much-anticipated contest.

Former racecar driver and founder of the British Racing Driver’s Club, Lord Howe was the original owner of the car. In fact, it was built in his vision by Barker of London. McCaw still gives Howe all the credit for the award-winning vehicle, which prevailed against a pool of 204 entries from 15 different countries and 31 different states. It was not only named Best of Show, but the beautiful boattail Benz was also named Most Elegant Open Car.

Runners Up

Bruce wasn’t the only McCaw brother gaining recognition in Pebble Beach. John McCaw, along with his wife Gwen, actually finished runner up to Bruce for Best of Show with their 1957 Ferrari 315 S Scaglietti Spyder. Rounding out the top-three finalists was a 1932 Packard 906 Twin Six Dietrich Convertible Victoria, owned by William E. Connor, of Reno, Nevada.